Cotton gin lift device



y 8, 1963 P. w. YAWN 3,091,346

COTTON GIN LIFT DEVICE Filed Aug. 22, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

Ha rian h. Yawn May 28, 1963 P. w. YAWN 3,091,346

COTTON GIN LIFT DEVICE Filed Aug. 22, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 78 INVENTOR.F Hay/012 W 121402 United States Patent 3,091,346 COTTON GIN LIFT DEVICEPreston W. Yawn, 612 S. Adams St., Canton, Miss. Filed Aug. 22, 1961,Ser. No. 133,124 6 Claims. (Cl. 2129) The present invention generallyrelates to a lift device and more particularly to a lift specificallyadapted for use in handling the breast of a cotton gin.

During routine maintenance and sometimes during emergency repair, itbecomes necessary to remove the breast for cleaning of the saws, repairthereof and the like. The cotton gin breast is quite heavy and can onlybe lifted by using some type of crane, hoist or the like. In someinstances a permanent overhead hoist is employed but this is quiteexpensive. Therefore, it is the primary object of this invention toprovide a portable hoist that may be easily carried to the desiredcotton gin so that it may be combined with the cotton gin for liftingthe breast and moving it to an out of the way position in relation tothe saws.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a cotton ginbreast lift which is adjustable for various sizes of gins and also quitestable and safe in use.

A further object of this invention is to provide a lift having a carriermounted thereon for longitudinal movement on an overhead rail.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a cotton ginbreast lifting and handling device which is foldable and portable andprovided with a releaseable brace for rigidly retaining the lift inextended position for use.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a cotton gin liftdevice which is simple in construction, easy to use, adaptable for usewith various types of gins, lightweight but strong and generallyinexpensive to manufacture.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the cotton gin breast lift of thepresent invention;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the device;

FIGURE 3 is an end view of the lift;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view of the device for attachment to thegin breast; and

FIGURE 5 is an end view of the construction of FIG- URE 4.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, the numeral generallydesignates the cotton gin breast lift of the present invention whichincludes an elongated overhead rail 12 of I-beam configuration whichsupports a carrier 14 and a support 16 for one end thereof. The otherend of beam 12 rests against the top of the cotton gin stand with thecarrier 14 including a hoist 18 and a gin breast attachment 20 forlifting the gin breast.

The support 16 includes a pair of widely spaced legs 22 havingconverging upper end portions 24 interconnected by a top member 26 and aplurality of spaced braces 28. The lower ends of legs 22 havetelescopically adjustable square sleeves 30 thereon which are retainedin adjustable position by set screws 32 thereby enabling adjustment ofthe height of the support.

One end of the beam 12 is provided with a bracket 34 having lugs 36rotatably encircling the top member 26 of support 16 thus pivotallyattaching the beam to the support. A U-shaped brace 38 interconnectslugs 40 on the converging portions 24 of legs 22 and a bracket 44 "iceon the top surface of beam 12, the bight portion 42 of the brace 38being received and releaseably lockedto a bracket 44. The bracket 44includes a hook 46 and a lug 48 spaced therefrom and the bight portionincludes a latch element 50 for engagement with the front of lug 48 withthe latch element 50 being pivotal to retain the beam 12 rigidly inperpendicular relation to support 16.

The carrier 14 includes side plates 52 on each side of beam 12, eachplate 52 having a pair of wheels 54 journalled thereon and engaging withthe flanges on the beam. The plates 52 are interconnected at the bottomby a rod 56 to which is attached the chain hoist 18 by a hook 58. Thehoist 18 is conventional and includes a lift chain 60 and an operatinghandle 62 and the chain 60 is attached to the lift attachment 20.

The breast attachment 20 includes an elongated slotted pipe 64reinforced by brace member 66 and attached to chain 60 by a loop 68thereon. Slida'ble in pipe 64 is a pair of circular members 70 having aninverted U-shaped clamp 72 thereon. One leg of each clamp 72 has a screwthreadedly adjustable member 74 and the other leg thereof has a cam 76mounted thereon and provided with a handle 78 for operating the cam foreffectively clamping the attachment to a gin breast for secure liftingand handling thereof.

The device is used in the manner shown in FIGURE 1 and may be foldedinto the condition illustrated in dotted line therein for ease ofstorage and transporting to different gins. The wide spacing of legs 22serves to stabilize the device and the adjustable square sleeves enablethe device to be used with all gin sizes. The carrier enables the ginbreast to be easily moved to an out of the way position for enablingaccess to the gin saws and the like.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A cotton gin breast lift comprising an elongated I-beam having oneend adapted to engage the gin stand above the breast thereof, aninverted substantially U-shaped support means for supporting the outerend of said I-beam, a carrier on said I-beam, a hoist suspended from thesaid carrier, breast attachment means carried by the hoist forconnection to a gin breast, said inverted substantially U-shaped supportmeans including a pair of widely spaced legs, said legs embodyingvertical lower end portions, converging intermediate portions, verticalupper end portions and a transverse bight portion, bracket means securedto the outer end portion of said I-beam for pivotally attaching theouter end of said I-beam to said bight portion of said support, a braceextending between the said converging intermediate portions of said legsand the upper portion of said I-beam in spaced relation to said bracketmeans, and means releasably connecting the upper end of said brace tothe top surface of said I-bearn.

2. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said carrier includes apair of side plates, a rod rigidly interconnecting the side plates belowthe beam, rollers on each side plate engaging the beam, said hoistincluding a hook connected with said rod, said breast attachment meanscarried by the hoist for connecting to a gin breast including anelongated pipe.

3. The structure as defined in claim 2 wherein said hoist includes alift chain, and means connecting the lift chain to said breast attachingmeans.

4. The structure as defined in claim 3 wherein said breast attachingmeans includes an elongated slotted pipe, and a pair of clamp meansslidable on said pipe for attachment to a gin breast.

5. The structure as defined in claim 4 wherein each of said clamp meansincludes an inverted U-shaped member having an adjustable abutment onone leg thereof and a cam on the other leg for locking engagement with agin breast.

6. A portable and foldable cotton gin breast lifting device including acarrier, a hoist and telescopic support portions, the combination of atleast one overhead rail of Lbeam configuration having one end adapted toengage the stationary gin stand above the breast of a cotton gin, anupright support below said overhead rail and pivotally assembled to abracket secured to said overhead rail near its outer end, said brackethaving a pair of spaced lugs depending therefrom and having transversebores therein, said support including a pair of widely spaced legshaving vertical lower end portions, converging intermediate portions,vertical upper end portions and a horizontal bigh t portion, saidhorizontal bight portion extending through said transverse bores in saidpair of spaced lugs, the lower ends of said pair of legs arranged withinand extending upwardly from a pair of longitudinal sleeves which aresquare in cross-section, set screws arranged in threaded horizontalbores in said sleeves to telescopically adjust and secure said lower legportions in a selected position at a desired height relative to theground, a movable carrier mounted on the lower flanges of said overheadrail, said carrier embodying a pair of side plates each having a pair ofwheels journalled thereon and engaging with the upper side of saidflanges of said rail, a rod extending between and secured to the lowerportions of said plates, a hoist removably hooked on said rod, chainmeans carried by said hoist for connecting said hoist with the oppositeend portions of a gin breast, a U-shaped brace extending between theconverging irrtermediate leg portions of said support and said overheadrail in spaced relation to the outer end of said rail, the lower ends ofsaid brace being pivotally secured to perforated lugs secured to saidintermediate leg portions of said support, the bight portion of saidbrace releasably connected to a bracket secured to the top surface ofsaid rail, said bracket on the top of said rail having a hook and a lugspaced outwardly therefrom, and said bight portion of said brace havinga latch element pivotally arranged therewith for engagement with the farside of the said lug spaced from said hook to retain said rail rigidlyin perpendicular relation to said support.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS539,997 Ogilvie Mar. 28, 1895 1,235,472 Hendrickson July 31, 19171,361,409 Scheid Dec. 7, 1920 2,990,788 Wallace July 4, 1961

1. A COTTON GIN BREAST LIFT COMPRISING AN ELONGATED I-BEAM HAVING ONEEND ADAPTED TO ENGAGE THE GIN STAND ABOVE THE BREAST THEREOF, ANINVERTED SUBSTANTIALLY U-SHAPED SUPPORT MEANS FOR SUPPORTING THE OUTEREND OF SAID I-BEAM, A CARRIER ON SAID I-BEAM, A HOIST SUSPENDED FROM THESAID CARRIER, BREAST ATTACHMENT MEANS CARRIED BY THE HOIST FORCONNECTION TO A GIN BREAST, SAID INVERTED SUBSTANTIALLY U-SHAPED SUPPORTMEANS INCLUDING A PAIR OF WIDELY SPACED LEGS, SAID LEGS EMBODYINGVERTICAL LOWER END PORTIONS, CONVERGING INTERMEDIATE PORTIONS, VERTICALUPPER END PORTIONS AND A TRANSVERSE BIGHT PORTION, BRACKET MEANS SECUREDTO THE OUTER END PORTION OF SAID I-BEAM FOR PIVOTALLY ATTACHING THEOUTER END OF SAID I-BEAM TO SAID BIGHT PORTION OF SAID SUPPORT, A BRACEEXTENDING BETWEEN THE SAID CONVERGING INTERMEDIATE PORTIONS OF SAID LEGSAND THE UPPER PORTION OF SAID I-BEAM IN SPACED RELATION OF SAID BRACKETMEANS, AND MEANS RELEASABLY CONNECTING THE UPPER END OF SAID BRACE TOTHE TOP SURFACE OF SAID I-BEAM.